Concord Monitor Endorses Hillary Clinton for President

Today, Senator Hillary Clinton received the endorsement of the Concord Monitor in the upcoming presidential primary.

In their endorsement editorial, the Monitor wrote that Senator Clinton’s "unique combination of smarts, experience and toughness makes her the best choice to win the November election and truly get things done."

Clinton has also received the endorsements of four Cabinet Press weekly papers, the Keene Sentinel, Foster's Daily Democrat and Laconia Citizen, and 11 Salmon Press weekly newspapers.

The Concord Monitor Editorial follows:

http://www.concordmonitor.com

Hillary Clinton is the Democrats' best choice

Immediately after taking office, President Hillary Clinton would begin preparations to withdraw American troops from Iraq.

She would send a message to world leaders that the United States intends to rejoin the community of nations.

She would make clear to federal employees that they must heed the Constitution.

She would reverse Bush-era policies that have harmed the environment.

She would quickly sign legislation supporting stem-cell research and expanding children's health insurance.

She would lift the gag rule prohibiting international family planning programs from counseling poor women about abortion.

Many White House administrations start off slowly, as green presidents fumble through their early months, unsure how to bend Washington to their will. Come 2009, America will be unable to afford such squandered time.

Clinton's ambitious to-do list for her first few weeks in office gives us confidence that her priorities are right and that she would act swiftly to make a positive difference. She is the Monitor's choice in the Jan. 8 Democratic primary.

New Hampshire Democrats and independents are blessed with a strong field of presidential candidates at a time when a change of course is desperately needed. We have been impressed by Joe Biden's pragmatic foreign policy and by John Edwards's insistence that we pay attention to the poorest Americans.

Barack Obama, more than most, has the power to inspire. The positive tone of his campaign is not a gimmick. He is a serious candidate with sober ideas. For reasons symbolic and substantive, he would also be a nominee Democrats could feel proud to vote for.

But Hillary Clinton's unique combination of smarts, experience and toughness makes her the best choice to win the November election and truly get things done. Before embarking on an agenda of her or his own, the next American president will be forced to undo the damage of the Bush years: ending the war in Iraq, restoring habeas corpus rights, ending the use of torture, healing New Orleans, restoring America's moral authority around the world.

A tall order - but not nearly enough. The next president must also take the lead on a serious effort to slow global warming, a rational policy on illegal immigration and a plan to provide health care to all Americans.

Clinton knows what she wants to accomplish. She knows how Washington works. She has forged alliances with unlikely political partners, and she has waged partisan fights on matters of principle. Her years as first lady and as a U.S. senator have put her at the center of key policy and political battles for a decade and a half. She is prepared for the job.

As first lady, Clinton acted as an American diplomat, meeting with foreign leaders across the globe on behalf of her husband and advocating for human rights. She was influential in shepherding the Family and Medical Leave Act into law. Her fumble on health care reform taught her much about the ways of Washington - and it is to her credit that universal health care remains her signature issue.

As a senator, Clinton has earned a reputation for pragmatic and sometimes creative hard work. She forged a bipartisan plan to expand health coverage to military veterans and their families. She helped secure critical federal assistance for Manhattan after the Sept. 11 attacks. By stalling the confirmation of President Bush's FDA appointee, she gained over-the-counter access for the morning-after pill. Her work with Senate Republicans, including the leader of the impeachment prosecution against her husband, gives us confidence that the cartoon version of Hillary Clinton - as a leading actor in an exhaustingly partisan Washington soap opera - is a 1990s anachronism.
As a veteran of her own campaigns and her husband's, and as a favorite target of Republicans, she has become a tough campaigner. Unlike John Kerry, she would not dither when the inevitable attacks came.

There are Democratic voters in New Hampshire and beyond who wish for a little more poetry from the guarded and highly disciplined Clinton. She can, after all, seem a relentless policy wonk, rather than an inspirational leader. But consider this: American men gave up their monopoly on the right to vote and hold public office in 1920. In the intervening 87 years, progress for women has been slow and uneven: A wage gap persists; reproductive freedom is constantly at risk; and in the 21 presidential contests since then, Americans have never even given serious consideration to voting for a woman.

The election of America's first female president will show more than half the population - including millions of young girls - that their futures are not limited by their gender, that America has moved a little closer to its ideals of liberty and justice for all. There is plenty of inspiration in that.

In a talented field, Hillary Clinton has the right experience, the right agenda and the know-how to lead the country back to respect on the world stage and meaningful progress on long-neglected problems.

MITT ROMNEY'S IN GOOD COMPANY

The Concord Monitor Attacked Ronald Reagan, George Bush In 1980
"[The] Monitor endorses the candidacy of John B. Anderson… He has proposed a 50-cent-a-gallon tax on gasoline… He favors both the Equal Rights Amendment and the windfall profits tax on the major oil companies." (Editorial, "For The GOP: Anderson," Concord Monitor, 2/21/80)

The Concord Monitor Editorial Board Recently Personally Attacked Gov. Romney:
UPI Headline: "Liberal N.H. Newspaper Slams Romney." "Romney campaign spokesman Kevin Madden told CNN the criticisms were taken in stride. 'The Monitor's editorial board is regarded as a liberal one on many issues, so it is not surprising that they would criticize Governor Romney for his conservative views and platform,' Madden said." ("Liberal N.H. Newspaper Slams Romney," United Press International, 12/24/07)

FLASHBACK: The Concord Monitor Endorsed Moderate John Anderson In The 1980 GOP Primary:
The Monitor Praised Anderson For His Liberal Positions. "[The] Monitor endorses the candidacy of John B. Anderson… He has proposed a 50-cent-a-gallon tax on gasoline… He favors both the Equal Rights Amendment and the windfall profits tax on the major oil companies." (Editorial, "For The GOP: Anderson," Concord Monitor, 2/21/80)

FLASHBACK: The Concord Monitor Personally Attacked Ronald Reagan In 1980:
The Monitor Attacked Reagan's Ability And Capacity. "Ronald Reagan – The former California governor is simply too old (69), too doctrinaire, too inexperienced in the intricacies of the federal government. We gravely question his capability to withstand the daily physical and emotional battering that the nation's chief executive must endure." (Editorial, "For The GOP: Anderson," Concord Monitor, 2/21/80)

The Monitor Attacked Reagan For Supporting "A 19th Century Economic Philosophy." "Reagan espouses a 19th century economic philosophy shared by less than one-third of the national electorate. He opposes the Equal Rights Amendment, President Carter's embargo on grain shipments to the Soviet Union, the proposed windfall profits tax on major oil companies, implementation of the Panama Canal treaties, and he has favored simultaneously additional defense spending and a tax cut." (Editorial, "For The GOP: Anderson," Concord Monitor, 2/21/80)

The Monitor Claimed Reagan Was "On The Side-Lines Of Contemporary American Thought." "Though personable, [Reagan] is on the side-lines of contemporary American thought, and he could not win a national election if he won the GOP nomination." (Editorial, "For The GOP: Anderson," Concord Monitor, 2/21/80)

FLASHBACK: The Concord Monitor Also Attacked George H.W. Bush:

The Monitor Attacked Bush For Having Most Of The Same Conservative Beliefs As Reagan, Like Cutting Taxes And Increasing Defense Spending. "George Bush – The former director of the CIA, two-term congressman from Texas in the 1960s, onetime Republican national chairman and first U.S. envoy to mainland China has both magnetic appeal and organizational and leadership talents. He is widely regarded as a moderate. He is not. He shares most of Reagan's political beliefs, his stand on the ERA being one of the notable exceptions. He also favors a tax cut and an increase in defense spending at the same time." (Editorial, "For The GOP: Anderson," Concord Monitor, 2/21/80)

The Monitor Claimed That Bush's Positions Needed Far More Scrutiny. "Bush's articulation of his positions on major issues is fuzzy and sometimes evasive. He can mesmerize an audience, seeming to say much while actually saying little. Bush has campaigned for the GOP nomination, mostly in New Hampshire, for more than 20 months. Despite this, he needs additional scrutiny." (Editorial, "For The GOP: Anderson," Concord Monitor, 2/21/80)

The Monitor Questioned Bush's Credentials. "Bush's highly-vaunted Washington experience is more noteworthy for its breadth than for its depth. He is a shiny new political phenomenon, following the Iowa caucuses, and we want to hear from him a fuller articulation of his positions on a broad range of national issues. We hope he survives the New Hampshire primary and submits his thinking to more searching examination in the primaries to come." (Editorial, "For The GOP: Anderson," Concord Monitor, 2/21/80)